Jul 7, 2008 10:33 am US/Pacific
Man Who Abducted Son May Have Committed Suicide
SANTA ANA, Calif. (CBS) ―
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After Lonnie Ramos dropped off his son at a church in Juarez, Mexico, he was killed when he was struck by a bus. Local officials suspect he may have committed suicide.
CBS
A Portola Hills man who abducted his 9-year-old son after shooting the boy's mother in the face was killed when he was struck by a bus in Juarez, Mexico, and local officials suspect he may have committed suicide, a Sheriff's Department spokesman said today.
Lonnie Ramos, 46, was killed when he was struck by a bus while crossing a busy street,"possibly a couple of hours" after he dropped off his son,Ryan, at a church, sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino said.
The boy was picked up by authorities and flown back to Orange County today. He was reunited with his mother, 41-year-old Gynnae Ramos, who is at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo recovering from a gunshot wound to the right eye.
Amormino said Mexican authorities have arrested the driver of the bus that struck Lonnie Ramos.
"They usually arrest someone pending investigation," Amormino said. "However law enforcement believes it may have been intentional" on the part of Ramos, he said.
It seems highly coincidental," Amormino said, but he conceded that proving the death was a suicide "is going to be hard."
Orange County authorities were notified Sunday of an accident involving an American tourist closely matching the description of Ramos, Amormino said.
Amormino said he received confirmation from Mexican state police at 2 a.m. that it was Ramos.
According to sheriff's officials, Lonnie Ramos shot his estranged wife Wednesday when she went to pick up her son at the father's Portola Hills home, and kidnapped Ryan, prompting a nationwide Amber Alert.
The boy apparently thought he was on an outing with his father, Amormino said.
"He thought he was on a trip," he said, adding that the boy did not know his mother had been shot, nor that he was being sought as a kidnap victim with his father the suspect.
The "big break" in the case occurred Saturday when a recreational vehicle Ramos rented was found at the Mexican border, and witnesses said they saw Ramos and the boy walk across the border, Amormino said.
Lonnie Ramos notified his father in Washington, D.C., that he had dropped off his son, and the father told authorities about 11 a.m. Sunday.
"The task force received a call from the suspect's father claiming that the suspect left Ryan at the Church of Latter-day Saints in Juarez, Mexico," Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens said at a news conference at the hospital on Sunday.
The boy was in "great" condition when he was found at the Mormon church. Authorities said Lonnie Ramos had recently converted to the Mormon religion.
After being found at the church, the boy was taken to the U.S. Embassy in Juarez before being taken across the border to El Paso, Amormino said.
"It's a miracle, I thank God. I know he has angels up there watching over him," Ryan's maternal grandmother, Karen Schiffilea, said Sunday night at the hospital, where family members had gathered.
"We have another chance at life, at a future," Schiffilea said. "My daughter says she can sleep at night -- finally."
In more good news for the family, authorities said the mother's condition has been upgraded from critical to good, although she will need major reconstructive surgery.
She has "significant damage to the right eye," Amormino said, but no brain damage.
Amormino said Lonnie Ramos fired a weapon through the windshield of his estranged wife's car. She had a friend and her daughter in the vehicle at the time.
"She drove by -- usually she drives and parks right in front of the home," Amormino said. "This time she passed the home, made a U-turn in the cul-de-sac and came back. The suspect then jumped out of some bushes and shot her from the front. If she would have drove up the same way, he probably would have shot her in the back and probably got her in the back of the head. She would not have survived it."
Amormino said the mother brought her friend as a witness "only because at the last two exchanges, there were arguments."
"Obviously she did not anticipate this or she wouldn't have brought (her friend), especially the little girl."
On Thursday, Lonnie Ramos apparently tried to buy plane tickets at John Wayne Airport but was unable to do so because he refused to produce identification or submit a name.
According to court records, Gynnae Ramos filed for divorce in May 2003, and has since been in a contentious divorce battle with her husband. She made statements to the court that she had been threatened by Ramos and was afraid he would take out his anger on their son.
Court records filed by Ramos and his attorney indicated Ramos believed his wife was trying to prevent him from having a relationship with his son.
Ramos' roommate, Randy Jick, said it was one of the nastiest custody battles he had ever seen.
On at least two previous custody exchanges, police had been called because of disturbances, the Orange County Register reported.
Gynnae Ramos' father, Tom Schiffilea, said his grandson has been through a lot.
"We can get through, my wife and I, and Gynnae and the rest of the family, you know, but little Ryan's got some -- it's going to be hard for him, you know, what he went through," he said.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
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